LIVE STREAM The stream is available through the Match Centre page on this website.
David Willey
“I’m delighted.
“I said this winter that there’s no better feeling than winning in four-day cricket, over any other format, because it’s hard work.
“From having Covid at the end of last year and then the stress fracture in my back, it’s been a long winter getting myself right.
“It was great to be out there playing again.
“My hopes for the game were to get through injury free. So to get some wickets and, most importantly, a win was great.”
5pm YORKSHIRE WIN by 200 runs!! Willey traps Cummins lbw to secure his first five-wicket haul for the county and clinch a 23-point success. Kent 244 all out with 19.2 overs remaining. Podmore won’t bat. Fabulous performance.
4.38pm WICKET Big task for Kent now as Willey gets Stevens caught at mid-off by Root. 224-8 with nearly 24 overs remaining.
4.27pm WICKET Willey gets Milnes lbw for an excellent 78. Kent 223-7 in the 83rd. 25.5 overs remaining. Huge moment.
4.18pm New ball taken by Willey. Kent 213-6 with 28 overs remaining.
4.06pm Underway after tea. Kent 203-6 with a little over 31 overs remaining. New ball due in three overs. Milnes and Stevens resisting.
At Edgbaston Foundation Ground, Diamonds are chasing 270 in 40 overs and are 163-5 after 26. Hollie Armitage 66 not out.
Tea Report Yorkshire are being made to work hard for the win against Kent on day four at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.
The White Rose, defending an out of the question target of 445, struck only once in the afternoon session as Kent reached tea on 193-6 from 75 overs. A minimum of 33 overs remain.
The hosts were reduced to 86-5 at midday, with three wickets falling at the beginning of the day.
But resistance has followed, led from the unlikely nightwatchman Matt Milnes, who has been excellent for a career best 71 not out.
Milnes has batted through the entire day and has not looked in a great deal of trouble on an attritional pitch in the face of plenty of probing bowling.
He reached his maiden career fifty in the early stages of the afternoon.
The seamer shared 62 for the sixth wicket with Ollie Robinson, the wicketkeeper who was the only man to fall in the afternoon when he edged Duanne Olivier behind, leaving the score 148-6 in the 59th over of the innings.
At that stage, there was the best part of 50 overs remaining in the day.
Dom Bess has bowled nicely, with no luck, for no reward. His current analysis of 0-40 from 20 overs could have easily included three wickets.
Milnes and Darren Stevens (23 not out) have shared an unbroken 45. A new ball is due in five overs.
3.41pm – Tea Kent 193-6 from from 75 overs. A minimum of 33 overs remain in the game. One wicket since lunch for Yorkshire, Olivier getting it. Milnes 71, Stevens 24. New ball due shortly.
3.22pm 20 minutes or so until tea. One more wicket would be lovely beforehand. Kent 170-6 with 38 overs remaining.
2.57pm Root comes into the attack to replace Bess. Kent are 162-6 with 45 overs remaining. Milnes 66 and Stevens 4. Stevens is the key man from here. If Yorkshire get him relatively cheaply, they are right in business. 17 overs until a new ball.
2.40pm WICKET Olivier gets Robinson caught behind for 28, snapping a period of frustration for the White Rose. Kent 148-6, with Milnes unbeaten on 56. Almost 50 overs remaining.
1.52pm Maiden career fifty for nightwatchman Milnes, off 110 balls with 10×4s. Kent are 124-5.
1.44pm Yorkshire’s search for five more wickets resumes. Kent 119, with Bess and Thompson taking up the attack.
Up at the Edgbaston Foundation Group, Ella Telford has taken four wickets for the Northern Diamonds in their one-day friendly with Central Sparks, who are 269-8 at the end of their 40 overs.
And at Welbeck, Yorkshire’s Women are 54-5 chasing 136 in a T20 friendly against Nottinghamshire. That is the first of two games today.
Lunch Report Jordan Thompson has hopefully broken the back of Kent’s resistance with two of three morning wickets for Yorkshire at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.
Kent are chasing an unlikely 445 to win this LV= Insurance County Championship Group Three fixture.
They started the final day on 33-2 and have reached lunch on 119-5 from 43 overs. There are a minimum of 65 remaining to be bowled.
David Willey bowled Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond in the day’s first over to give the White Rose the ideal start – 34-3 in the 13th over of the innings.
Thompson, with his seamers, then had Joe Denly (30) caught behind by Jonny Tattersall and Jack Leaning caught at first slip by Tom Kohler-Cadmore in successive overs as Kent slipped to 86-5 in the 27th over.
For Leaning, who failed to score, it confirmed a pair in his first meeting with the county for whom he won back-to-back Championship titles in 2014 and 2015.
Kent nightwatchman Matt Milnes, who started the day unbeaten on nought, has batted through the morning to reach a career best 46 not out.
The pitch remains decent enough for batting, so Yorkshire still have work to do. But, they are certainly well on their way to a 23-point haul. Ollie Robinson (10) is the other not out batsman.
1.02pm – Lunch Three wickets in the morning for Yorkshire, two of them going to Thompson and the other to Willey. Kent, chasing 445 to win, advance from 33-2 overnight to 119-5 from 43 overs. 65 overs remaining, with Milnes 46 and Robinson 10.
12.55pm Milnes, at 41 not out, is only a handful of runs away from a career best. The nightwatchman is in sight of batting out the morning session. Kent 113-5.
12.38pm As I type, Bess is currently searching for the sixth Kent wicket. Robinson and Milnes, 4 and 37, are resisting. They ave moved the home score to 104-5.
12.03pm WICKET Would you believe it. You have to feel for Leaning, who has posted a pair against his former county. But it’s a wicket closer to victory for Yorkshire. Caught at first slip by Kohler-Cadmore diving to right off Thompson. 86-5 now.
11.54am WICKET Thompson gets Denly caught behind for 30. It’s 86-4. Big wicket that. Leaning the next target.
11.52am Central Sparks are 68-2 after 12 overs of the friendly v Northern Diamonds at Edgbaston Foundation Ground. Couple of wickets for Ella Telford.
11.39am Kent are 73-3, with Denly 21 and Milnes 19. Thompson and Patterson are searching for wicket number four.
11.04am WICKET What a start! Willey bowls Bell-Drummond for 24 in the day’s opening over. Kent are 34-3.
10.37am Roooooot on Lyth and Brook
???? Joe Root ???? “It was important that we got a couple of really good partnerships, and it gave us a chance to dictate terms towards the back end of the day.” #OneRose
— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) April 18, 2021
10.35am Here’s a look at the state of play around the grounds ahead of day four.
Derbyshire 390 and 268-5 v Worcestershire 305, County Ground
Essex 96 and 330 v Durham 259 and 60-3, Chelmsford
Nottinghamshire 273 and 260 v Warwickshire 201-9 and 85-3, Trent Bridge
Hampshire 319 and 290-4d v Middlesex 79 and 208-4, Ageas Bowl
Somerset 312 and 149 v Gloucestershire 309 and 28-1, Taunton
Surrey 672-8d v Leicestershire 375 and 21-0, Oval
Glamorgan 285 and 258-5 v Sussex 481, Sophia Gardens
Lancashire 305 and 296-7d v Northamptonshire 177 and 59-3, Old Trafford.
Good morning from Canterbury.
It is another sunny morning at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, and certainly the warmest it has been since we arrived on Thursday morning.
Yorkshire need eight more wickets at the most to win this LV= Insurance County Championship fixture.
We say “at the most” because injured Kent seamer Harry Podmore will only bat if desperately required. Should Kent be nine wickets down at 2.30pm, he probably won’t bat due to his side injury. If they are nine down at 5.30pm, he probably will.
Yorkshire have been superb this week. After the disappointment of the draw against Glamorgan, and the injury situation, the pre-season optimism had maybe taken a hit with a number of people. But the way the lads have performed has been exceptional.
Fingers crossed, they can wrap up the win they deserve, with Kent starting the day on 33-2 in pursuit of 445. Captain Daniel Bell-Drummond and nightwatchman Matt Milnes are the unbeaten batsmen.
We get going at 11am, and it is a normal 96-over day for the first time in the fixture. Enjoy.
